Home Improvement

Today begins yet another big home improvement project to the Swans' nest.  And the best part is, Mr. Cob and I won't have anything to do with it.  In fact, we won't even be around.  This project is one for the pros.  We're having our entire downstairs heating and air system redone.  This may not sound exciting to you, but its a big deal to us! 

The heating expert came out to the house, took one look at our "system" and just kind of shook his head.  The whole thing was wrong.  The wrong coil, the wrong duct work, the wrong filter.  The heating vents are even in the wrong places!  So we decided to just tear it down and start from scratch.  The main reason is the lack of heat and air into the soon-to-be nursery.  So it seemed like the perfect time.

Lesson learned - when you buy an old house that has been "renovated down to the studs", make sure you have a really good home inspector and some folks who know a thing or two about houses to check it out for you before you buy.  I do love our house, and eventually, once we fix all the problems, it'll be even more perfect for us.  But I can't say it hasn't been a pain at times.

But we've made progress - even since my last home improvement post on April 29.  We've done everything that is crossed out below (or will have had it done by the end of the weekend):

A. Paint the downstairs hallway and breakfast nook;




C. Finish the basement, including adding Mr. Cob’s brew shop;

D. Rework the heating and air duct system and add more registers in the living room and baby’s room ;

E. Find a permanent solution for the “dummy door” in the baby’s room; however, we now have to implement said solution.  We've decided to seal up the door and then Mr. Cob and his dad are going to build built in bookshelves for all the baby's stuff!

F. Paint the baby’s room and the downstairs bathroom, oh and the laundry room and sunroom while we’re at it;

G. Fence in the back yard; repave and widen the driveway; build a lower-level deck or seating area of some sort;

H. Replace all the door knobs downstairs (we did purchase new knobs this week);

I. And any other project I whimsically decide to add to our list. Yup, I've added some...

• Build the bookshelves in the nursery
• Replace the carpet in the nursery
• Replace the upstairs carpet (master suite, office & stairwell)

We're getting there...though I should probably stop adding more things to our list!